Psychology of Childhood Flashcards
1
Q
Children’s emotional development:
A
1) The ability to recognise different emotional expression.
2) Children’s understanding of emotions
3) How young children become able to regulate their emotions.
2
Q
Darwin argued ability to communicate emotions through facial expressions as:
A
- innate - investigated via exploring whether emotional facial expressions are universally understood and whether newborns spontaneously produce recognisable facial expressions
- Cross cultural evidence:
- Ekman and Friesen (1971) found cross-cultural similarity in adults’ interpretation of facial expression when showing Fore people from New Guinea photographs of Western adults’ face expression.
- Ekman (1973) found the same when Americans were showed face expressions of the Fore people.
3
Q
Infant emotional expression:
A
- basic e.g. happiness, sadness and complex e.g. pride, jealousy emotions
- Evidence that basic emotions available early in life but complex not until later e.g. Dunn 1994 but remains controversial - Reddy et al found infants as young as 2-4 months could display shyness and embarrassment
4
Q
Adult interpretation of infant expressions:
A
- adults could just expressions in a 1-9 month old infants after positive or unpleasant experiences, less accurate in recognising more complex emotion - different types e.g. fear vs anger (Oster et al 1992)
5
Q
Infant identification of expressions:
A
- (infants more interested in new things - could tell they recognised emotions as they got bored - habituation-dishabituation) - recognise but didn’t necessarily know meaning
- Barrera and Maurer (1981) 3-month-old could distinguish between smiling and frowning
- Caron et al. (1982) 4-7-month-olds could distinguish between happiness and surprise
6
Q
Infant’s emotional understanding
A
Repacholi and Gopnik (1997) infants watched experimenter taste broccoli and crackers, reacting positively to broccoli and negatively to crackers. 18 month olds selected to ‘feed’ the experimenter broccoli even though personal preference for cracker
- There is evidence that 2-3 year olds perform better than chance (Denham, 1986)
7
Q
Role of modelling for children’s emotions
A
- Children start to use social referencing (learning from people around us) around 10 months (look to caregiver for how to act/respond), different from emotional contagion (feel same emotions)
- Parent influence can be direct (language/action) or indirect (observation and modelling) (e.g. visual cliff study - Gibson and Walk)
8
Q
Modelling and mental health for children’s emotions
A
- Murray et al 2008 - mothers with social anxiety and controls, mothers interacted with a stranger and children observed at 10 months and again at 14 months, mothers with social anxiety less engaged and less encouraging of child’s interaction with stranger
- At 10 months no difference in infant behaviour
- At 14 months the child showed increased avoidance
9
Q
Language and emotional understanding
A
- Children begin to talk about emotion from a young age (Bretherton et al 1981 - accounts of children using emotion words as young as 18 months and increased in emotional vocabulary at 3
- Bretherton and Beeghly (1982) found that 28 month olds could use emotion words to comment on their own and other’s behaviours.
10
Q
Language and fear learning
A
- Rachman (1977) 3 pathways to fear learning: classical conditioning, observation and verbal information
- Parents communicate messages of threat and safety.
- Parents of anxious children communicate more ‘anxious’ messages (e.g. “be careful) (Beidel & Turner, 1998). (respond to children)
- Moore et al. (2004) anxious mothers used more catastrophising in their communication
- Suveg et al. (2005) anxious mothers described positive emotions less
11
Q
Pass et al. (2017)
A
- 65 preschool children and their mothers
- Asked the mothers ‘are you worried about your child starting school?’
- Asked the mothers to talk to their child about social aspects of school.
- Children used doll-play to complete brief scenarios about school
- Mothers who said they were worried were more likely to:
- mention unresolved threat
- use at least one anxiety-related word
- show clear/consistent negativity across their description of school
- Emotional tone of mother’s description was associated with child’s own representations of school
12
Q
Emotion regulation
A
- Young children tend to be bad at hiding their true feelings
- But children as young as 3 years old show some ability to control the expression of mild negative emotions (Cole, 1986)
- This is likely due to learning from others reactions when displaying emotions
- By the age of 5 years, some children have even learnt that some positive emotions are undesirably e.g. showing off (Reissland & Harris, 1991)
13
Q
Bowlby’s theory of attachment
A
- Argued that attachment was an innate drive - behaviours like crying are to get attention from caregivers
- Environmental cues trigger attachment behaviours - the ‘goal-corrected system’
- purpose of attachment was to remain close to the caregiver, depended on the infant’s cognitive development, and the ability to recognise that a caregiver was not present, until infants had developed object permanence (8 months), they would not miss the attachment figure.
14
Q
Bowlby’s stages of development
A
1) pre-attatchment - 0-2 months
2) attachment in the making - 2-7 months
3) Clear cut attachment - after 7 months
4) goal corrected partnership - 2 years
15
Q
Bowlby characteristics of attachment:
A
- Safe Haven
- The child can rely on their caregiver for comfort at times whenever they feels threatened, frightened or in danger.
- Secure Base
- The caregiver gives a good and reliable foundation to the child as they go on learning and sorting out things by themself.
- Proximity Maintenance
- The child aims to explore the world but still tries to stay close to their care giver.
- Separation Distress
- This means that the child becomes unhappy and sorrowful when they become separated from their caregiver.
16
Q
The Strange Situation (Ainsworth, 1978):
A
- Caregiver and infant introduced to room
- Caregiver and infant alone, infant free to explore
- Strange enters room, sits, talks to caregiver, then tries to
engage the infant in play - Caregiver leaves, stranger and infant alone
- First reunion. Caregiver returns and stranger leaves, caregiver settles infant if necessary and returns to play
- Caregiver leaves, infant alone
- Stranger returns and tries to settle infant if necessary, attempts to engage in play
- Second reunion. Caregiver returns and stranger leaves, caregiver settles infant if necessary
- Conducted between 1-2 years of age, infants’ responses crucial and form the basis of a coding scheme for identifying an infant’s security of attachment
17
Q
Ainsworth’s attachment types:
A
- Securely attached infants (Type B)
- Insecure avoidant infants (Type A)
- Insecure resistant infants (Type C)
- Main and Solomon identified a fourth category - insecure-disorganised (type D), they seem disorientated and show no clear strategy for coping
Van Ijzendoorn, Schuengel, and Bakermans-Kranenburg (1999) conducted meta-analysis to identify prevalence of attachment types
18
Q
Internal working models:
A
- Attachment theory proposes that children use early experiences with caregivers to form internal-working models.
- These incorporate representations of themselves, their caregivers and their relationships with others
- The child will use these internal working models as templates for future interactions
19
Q
Van den Boom (1994) - Attachment intervention
A
- Testing the hypothesis that enhancing maternal sensitive responsiveness will improve quality of mother-infant interaction, infant exploration, and attachment
- Randomly assigned 6-month-old infants and their mothers to 3 month intervention and control groups
- Results:
- At 9 months, intervention mothers were significantly more responsive, stimulating, visually attentive, and controlling of their infant’s behavior than control mothers.
- Intervention infants had higher scores on sociability, self-soothing, and exploration, and they cried less.
- At 12 months, significantly more intervention group dads were securely attached than control group dads.
20
Q
Attachment and anxiety:
A
- A review concluded that attachment security in general, and resistant attachment and disorganised attachment, more specifically, may act as risk factors for anxiety (Brumariu & Kerns, 2010).
- Moss et al. (2006) found that children who were classified as having disorganised attachment at age 5-7 years exhibited significantly more anxiety symptoms two years later.
- May interact with other risk factors such as life events and Dallaire and Weinraub (2007) Attachment at 15 months moderated the effect of negative life events on children’s anxiety at age 4.5 years
21
Q
Predictors of child anxiety
A
- Hudson & Dodd (2012)
- 202 participants between 3 and 4 years
- Measures of anxiety, temperament (week 6), parenting, and attachment
- Followed up at age 9 to identify predictors of anxiety
- Results: temperament (inhibition), maternal over involvement, maternal anxiety
22
Q
Assessment of attachment (Ainsworth):
A
- Child-mother attachment was assessed using the preschool version of the Strange Situation procedure (Cassidy & Marvin, 1992).
- Similar to infant version of the Strange Situation (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). Consists of 8 episodes of separation and reunion between mother and child
- Children were classified as either securely (B) or insecurely (insecure-avoidant (A), insecure-resistent (C), disorganised (D) or insecure-other
23
Q
(In)stability of attachment security
A
- Belsky, Spritz & Crnic (1996) attachment stable in only half of infants in 6-month period.
- Booth-LaForce & Roisman (2014) little stability at 15, 24 and 36 months
- Bar-Haim et al. (2000) no correspondence between attachment behaviours in infancy and attachment representation at age 4
24
Q
Statistics for childhood disorders
A
- 1 in 8 children have a diagnosable mental health disorder
- 1 in 6 young people aged 16-24 has symptoms of a common mental disorder such as depression or an anxiety disorder.
- Half of all mental health problems manifest by the age of 14, with 75% by age 24.
- In 2017, suicide was the most common cause of death for both boys (16.2% of all deaths) and girls (13.3%) aged between 5 and 19.
- Nearly half of 17-19 year olds with a diagnosable mental health disorder has self-harmed or attempted suicide at some point, rising to 52.7% for young women.
25
Q
Anxiety
A
- A normal emotion, a problem when danger is imagined or out of proportion to reality
- Body (physiology - heart racing ect.), thoughts (cognition), actions (behaviour - flight/flight)
- A disorder when about a particular event or multiple lives, when the fear is excessive and worries not normal to age, leading to avoidance of events, causing significant distress /significant interference in daily activities
- One of the most common 6.5% point prevalence, can affect academic performance
26
Q
Separation anxiety
A
- inappropriate response of being separated from home or attachment figures
- worry about separation - losing caregivers or harm coming to them
- reluctant to being alone/nightmares
- must last for at least 4 weeks and must cause clinically significant distress or interference
27
Q
Generalised anxiety disorder
A
- excessive anxiety and worry occurring more often than not, difficult to control, significant distress and impairs functioning for at least 3 months
- Accompanied by at least 3 somatic symptoms - stomach/head aches, sleeping problems, poor concentration or fatigue
- seek constant reassurance, overly compliant/perfectionist
28
Q
Social anxiety disorder
A
- fear of social situations e.g. embassment/unfamiliar people
- Intense anxiety and often leads to avoidance of feared situation
- must last at least 6 months, clinically significant distress/interference, people of the same age, capacity for age-appropriate social relationships
29
Q
Specific phobia
A
intense and persistent fear of specific object or situation
- Avoidance and distress caused when confronted
- Children may cry, freeze or cling
- common - animals/insects, storms, dark, heights ect.
- At least 6 months, clinically significant distress or interference
30
Q
Panic disorder
A
- recurrent, unexpected panic attacks for no apparent reasons
- centered around panic attacks and what they mean
- Intense fear, somatic symptoms and catastrophic cognitions
- Assoicated with agoraphobia
- At least one attack must have been followed with:
- Persistent concern or worry that about panic attacks or their consequences (e.g. I’m going crazy)
- Maladaptive change in behaviour related to the attack(s)
31
Q
Agoraphobia
A
- persistent fear of certain environments - crowded/open spaces
- Must exist in at least two environments.
- Fear must be out of proportion to realistic threat posed.
- Presence or anticipated presence of feared environment results in significant distress.
- Feared environment is avoided or endured with extreme distress.
32
Q
Major depression diagnosis
A
- Persistent depressed mood (or irritability in YP)
AND/OR - Marked loss of interest
At least 5 symptoms in total
Lasts at least 2 weeks
Clinically significant impairment - Additional symptoms include:
- Significant weight loss/weight gain or changes in appetite
- Insomnia or hypersomnia
- Unable to sit still or lethargy
- Loss of energy or fatigue
- Feelings of worthlessness or excessive, inappropriate guilt
- Impaired concentration/slowed down thinking/indecisiveness
- Recurring thoughts of death/suicide
33
Q
Comorbidity
A
- refers to the presence of more than one disorder occurring together
- Children with anxiety disorders are 8 – 29 times more likely to be diagnosed with depression (Angold et al., 1999; Costello et al., 2003; Ford et al., 2003).
- Anxiety is strongly associated with subsequent depression (Cole et al., 1998; Costello et al., 2003) .
- Clark & Watson (1991) tripartite model – negative affect (associated with both anxiety and depression), low positive affect is associated with depression, high physiological arousal associated with anxiety.
34
Q
Measuring depression and anxiety
A
- Typically use questionnaire measures of symptomatology or diagnostic interviews
- Widely used questionnaire: Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS)
- ‘Gold-standard’ for diagnosing:
- Anxiety: Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule (ADIS)
- Depression: Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia in School Age Children (Kiddie-SADS)
35
Q
Problems with the diagnostic approach for childhood disorders
A
- Categorical (all or nothing) - what about people just below the threshold, dimensional approach may be better
- High comorbidity between diagnoses
- Results in labeling
- Tells us nothing about cause
36
Q
ADHD, ADD and hyperkintetic disorder
A
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- high maladaptively impulsivity, hyperactivity and inattention
- High comorbid with conduct disorder
- Associated with secondary problems e.g. academic/relationships
- differences between DSM and ICD - age of onset
3.4% worldwide prevelence, more males
37
Q
Biological theories of ADHD
A
- Genetic - Highly heritable (but not 100%), Dopamine receptor gene (D4) shows most robust evidence
- Neurotransmitter dysregulation - Dopamine and noradrenaline systems
- Hypoarousal hypothesis
- Stimuli not sufficiently arousing, so behaviour is stimulus-seeking
- Not unique to ADHD (e.g., LD, conduct disorders) 12
38
Q
Psychosocial theories of ADHD
A
- Executive function - Impaired behavioural inhibition (Reinforced by secondary deficits (e.g., self-regulation of affect))
- Family / systemic factors - High stress and low support - Less “effective” parenting, conflict, comorbidity (e.g.,Babinski et al., 2016)
- Environmental risk factors (e.g., alcohol, smoking in pregnancy) but difficult to establish causality
39
Q
Biological intervention - medication of ADHD
A
- Methylphenidate (Ritalin®, Concerta®), atomoxetine, lisdexamfetamine, dexamfetamine
- moderate effect sizes for symptom reduction
- Cochrane review of methylphenidate (2015):
- Review including over 12,000 children
- 40% funded by industry
- Some risks (e.g., sleeping problems, reduced appetite, compliance)
- May improve teacher-reported symptoms, teacher-reported general behaviour, and parent-reported quality of life
40
Q
Psychological intervention of ADHD
A
- Individual interventions include:
- Social skills training
- CBT (including behaviour modification)
- Neurofeedback (teaching impulse control)
- Complementary / alternative (e.g., dietary, homeopathic)
- Some support for psychological interventions, particularly BT (e.g., Catalá-López et al., 2017; Fabiano et al., 2009)
- Little evidence for cognitive training, neurofeedback, dietary (e.g., PUFAs), homeopathic and therefore not currently recommended
41
Q
Age differences in intervention for ADHD
A
- NICE provides guidance for healthcare, not rules or regulation
- NICE recommends
- Children <5
- Group parent-training programme to parents / carers as first-line, then consider specialist advice
- Do not offer medication without specialist opinion
- Children 5+ and young people
- Psychoeducation + carer support
- Consider parent training / medication / CBT if impairment remains
- Adults
- Consider medication, or non-pharmacological if medication not indicated / accepted
- Children <5
42
Q
Conduct disorder
A
- Intentionally vicious, aggressive and callous behaviour
- Repetitive and persistent pattern of behaviour involving:
- Aggression towards people and animals
- Destruction of property
- Deceitfulness or theft
- Serious violation of accepted rules
43
Q
Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)
A
ODD is reserved for children who do not meet full criteria for conduct disorder but have regular temper tantrums, refuse to comply with instructions, or may appear to indulge in behaviours that annoy others, common in preschool children and may predict later conduct disorder
44
Q
Prevalence and course of CD
A
- Relatively common, 4-16% in boys, 1-9% in girls (Loeber et al., 2000)
- Median age of onset 11.6 years (Nock et al., 2006)
- some may go on to meet criteria for antisocial personality disorder
- Studies suggest that CD predicts antisocial personality disorder, but only in lower SES families (Lahey et al., 2005), or if parents have antisocial personality disorder or low verbal IQ (Lahey et al., 1995)
- Like with ADHD, causal links with genetic, neuropsychological and prenatal factors
- different presentation in boys and girls
45
Q
Autism
A
- a neuro(developmental) ‘disorder’
- Spectrum of difficulties, not a disease it means the brain works differently
- Is not necessarily associated with
above or below average intelligence - 1% worldwide prevalence - cultural differences, different diagnostic criteria, less info for older people and poorer countries
- Onset in childhood but follows a persistent course
- More common in males - delayed/missed diagnosis in girls
46
Q
Characteristics - ‘Triad of impairment’ of autism
A
- Social interaction
- Difficulty ‘reading’ other people
- Emotion recognition in others - Social communication
- Difficulties interpreting both verbal and non-verbal language
- Range from no speech to not understanding some jokes (e.g., non-literal) - Repetitive behaviours / interests (DSM-5, but disputed!)
- Prefer routine / predictability
- Prefer to eat same food, travel same way
- May have focused interests
- Sensory sensitivity
47
Q
Genetic factors of Autism
A
- Autism has a prenatal origin bur cause not determined e.g. greater maternal age, insufficient evidence
- Highly heritable - environmental component
- Several genes in synaptic plasticity
48
Q
Cognitive factors of autism
A
- Aim to explain pattern of symptoms
- Weak central coherence
- Bias away from integrating contextual information for meaning (detail focus)
- Weak central coherence
- 2.Theory of mind defecit
- Impairment in attributing thoughts and feelings to others
- False belief tests - Sally-Ann
- 3.Executive dysfunction
- Umbrella term for functions such as planning, working memory, impulse control, set shifting, and so on
- May be necessary for development of ToM (see Ozonoff et al.,1991)
- Particularly associated with repetitive behaviours
49
Q
Psychological interventions of Autism
A
- Psychosocial interventions that:
- increase the understanding, sensitiveness and responsiveness to child’s patterns of communication and understanding
- Include techniques that expand child’s communication, interactive play and social routines
- Interventions for life skills
- Interventions for co-existing problems (both mental health and medical) E.g. CBT
- Interventions for sleep problems / feeding problems
50
Q
ABA interventions for Autism
A
- ABA (applied behavioural analysis) is a term for interventions that are based on observing and understanding behaviours.
- Because of it’s broad approach, which first emerged in the mid 20th century, ABA has changed over time and ranged from:
- Using encouragement and rewards, and making changes in the environment
- To… trying to ‘treat’ autism, and even using cruel methods as punishment
- Views on ABA are strongly polarised, and whilst it has developed substantially many are fundamentally against it’s approach
